Christian herald., June 01, 1883, Page 8, Image 8

CHTHRTTAX HERALD
taken a larger contract than he
can till, then we shall be disap­
pointed. That this title may and
does indicate that its members are
presumably Christians, will not be
denied; but beyond that we. can see
-no'o ryTot* i fau
e wmfctM w
a denominational standpoint, were
it not already so appropriated by
at least one, and we think two, dis­
tinct religious bodies in these
United States. But the simple fact
that the term does not occur in the
Scnptmvs”dugTitlIT^recIude^ny”
serious attempt to establish the
Doctor’s proposition. The noun
Christian, occurring, we believe,
Untie. Hmea ia.the J&iBL Testament»
ii in no sense a qualifying adjec­
tive that can be applied to the
. word church ; but indicates indi­
vidual character ami peculiarities
personal to the disciples of Jesus.
As such, it has a Scriptural and
recognized popular usage; and any
attempt to appropriate it in the
manner proposed, by a people who
claim to practice primitive usage, is
a bit.af. pirm»y t.liyt we., repudiate.
Being well aware that this unscrip-
tural and denominational title is in
quite common use by many church­
es and preachers, we speak ait the.
more earnestly in protest. The fact
that the A}>ostles, by the direction
of the Holy Spirit,’spoke of “the
church,” “ the church of God,” ami
“ the churches of Christ,” ami that
Jesus himself says “ my church,”
indicates conclusively all that can
be Scripturally and truthfully in­
dicated by the church name. And
at this point we must leave that
feature of the discussion for the
present.
But we are amazed by the sug­
gestion, not only by Dr. Collins,
but by many others in their utter­
ances upon this subject, that it is
necessary we should have a u de­
nominat ionol ” name! Shades of
the departed ! Is this a part of
that grand uprising of holy men to
restore to the world a pure church,
and primitive, apostolic Christiani­
ty I God forbid that the advocates
of such carnality should claim to
represent the gospel as preached by
Paul and Barnabas, Peter and John,
and the Campbells, Stone and
Scott! We had always supposed
that the purpose of this movement
w* to avoid denominationalism in
every sense, ami present to divided
Christendom a primitive practice
that sh&rld enable all the believers
in Christ to be one in name, faith
and working order. But after all,
it seems we are to be but another
among the many sectarian bodies,
and that to escape being called a golden thread, throughout the
“ Camphellites ” we are to deter Christianity of the New Testament;
mine upon a name authorized by namely, The oneness of Christ with
the Word of God, and take out a his disciples.
Had the apostles designed to say
copy-right to keep others from
making use of it I Seriously, i$> it that, what the disciples did by the
authority of the—L m i. l, a nd as In a
anyihu -l es s
name which the Holy Spirit sanc­ substitutes, he, himself, did * it
tions, than for the Corinthian dis­ could not. have been stated more
ciples, who were rebuked for call­ plainly.
ing themselves by denominational
It is not the purpose of tlrcse
names ? And if not, why not / lines to develop this thought, im­
Better cease our talk about Chris portant and interesting as it-may
tian union, it we areJ but to add' te ;""Uul we ' may inquire ir the
another to the hundreds of sectarian principle here given is to apply to
bodies already existing. Is some­ transactions, and to moral states,
body afraid that he will be mixed posterior to the ascension ? In
up with, somebody. jdaLt 1L-X2H other, words ; Did ChrLt really du
are simply a disciple, saint, brother, what the apostles did after Pente-
believer, Christian, a member of the ■ cost? Peter and John healed the
church of Christ, are -you afraid cripple at the beautiful gate of the
that your Lord won’t know yoy( if .temple, “in the name of Jesus
you are not “ denominated {” Do Christ of Nazareth;” -and when
you suppose that there was any called to account for it, they said to
trouble in identifying the apostolic the council, “ even by him doth this
churches ? And whit more is ne­ man stand before you whole.”
cessary than that Christians should When Paul, too, cured Eneat, he
be content to be simply what their said, “ Jesus Christ maketh thee
MasUx-calls tliem,...wiUiuut putting, wh olw.”--These, indeedywore miraeu-
up anydënbnnnàliôîïaî Tënçë about lous even ts7 aiid 'relate to tTie~ex-_
them to prevent other Christians ercise of power; but in questions
from getting mixed up with them ? of authority, is not the principle
“The-Lord knoweth them that are just as applicable ?_ Are not those
his,” and he. won’t be deceived by who act in the name of the Lord,
a name, be it ever so Scriptural, if his representatives—his substitutes
it is adopted as a sectarian or de - in all things ? As their principal,
nominational-designation. Ami the he ratifies their acts, Matt. 18 : 18,
people who tin»» jn-esnme to appro­ and assumes them.
priate to their party use what be­
May we conclude that, now,
longs to the whole family of God, when disciples, made through the
will meet with a disastrous failure word of the apostles, are taught to
as to uniting those who make the observe all things that our Lord
mistake of wearing human names commanded them to observe ; the
in addition. Leave the God-given baptisms given by his authority
and universally accepted title of the are to be considered as adminis­
church of Christ as the name of tered by him ? If so, this ordinance
God’s whole family, and give your possesses an importance that raises
example and influence to induce all it altogether above the plane of the
other Christians to drop their un- non-essentials; and, it becomes a
scriptural appendixes, and l>e with door into the congregation of Christ
you simply disciples of Christ, and in the sense only in which he said,
members of the great undenomina­ “ I am the door—not into a party,
tional church of Christ.— New but, into the sheep-fold. Does hu
England Evangelist.
baptize believers into himself ! lie
left his disciples on earth to do his
The Lord’s Supper.
W’ork. Phil. 2 : 30 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 58.
P. S. FALL.
They constitute his Body, and hold
I would ask my readers to med­ the same relation for him to the
itate for a moment on the following world, that he holds for them to the
Father; i. e., he approaches the
words : John 4:1.
“ Jesus made and baptized more world through the church; and
disciples than John: (though Jesus that comes to the Father through
himself baptized not, but his dis­ and in him, alone; as a body, in
any case, or, in its individual mem­
ciples.”)
Incidental expressions, and the bers.
But, it is not the Lord’s baptism
statement'bf incidsn tai facts, often
that
we are now to consider, any
convey more information than those
intentionally direct. In this case, farther than as enunciating the
a principle is involved that runs, as great principle of
»
THE IDENTITY OF CHRIST WITH HIS
DISCIPLES ;,
And as being one of the monu­
mental institutions by means of
which to keep in memory the gos­
pel that commanded our faith. He
Christ by baptism into death; (that
is, into a separation from the
world and from sim /Bom. 6: T.)
has no reminder that he became,
then, openly one with him who
died—that he died with Christ
2 CuE5:1Ib^TliarKrrdse wrth
him, to walk with him in a new
life, amongst those, who, born of
water and of the .Spirit, as Jesus
had been from the dead, hale
tered into the Kingdom of«. Heaven.
The Lord’s Table belongs exclu­
sively to that kingdom. It is hot
set in the unbelieving world ; and,
of a denominational world Christ
knows nothing. Nor is that Table
accessible to those who have not
been consecrated to the service of
the heavenly king, for, while it is
the duty of all men to worship
of thoHe,
ohTyPr who“ by him, (Heb, 7: 7,)
come to God.” The name of the
Lord is tjhe passport to the divine
presence; and that name must be
worn (not unlawfully assumed) by
him who pleads it. It holds the
place to an obedient believer, flow,
that the blood of the Passover did
to him who believed Moses. There
is life in it; and through it, to him
who wears it. (Juo. 20: 31 ; Acts
10: 43.) Nothing dead can enter
the presence of God.
These truths are of vital impor­
tance, and must govern us in our
treatment of the Lord’s Supper, as
well as in all things pertaining to
the Kingdom of Heaven. It has
sometimes happened, nevertheless,
that those presiding at the Lord’s
Table have observed in the con­
gregation persons who are not in
that kingdom ; and who,if they de­
sired to enter it in our Lord’s pres­
cribed way, would, although devout
as Cornelius, be required to make
the good confession, as if they had
hitherto made no religious profes­
sion at all. Yet courtesy has
prompted the saying that, “ this is
the Lord’s Table, not ours ; we have
no right to forbid any pious person
to approach it.” Theso disobedient
believers are, sometimes, even in­
vited directly, to participate; al­
though there is no more authority
for us to give an invitation to any­
one at all, than to prohibit it. This
is the sole privilege of the Host.
But, when we take the liberty to